Lisbellaw United 1 Irvinestown Wanderers 1

Irvinestown Wanderers have hauled themselves to within one point of safety after following up Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Castlederg with a 1-1 draw at Lisbellaw on Tuesday evening.

Darren Higginbotham’s squad have now gone three matches without defeat, and the boss has been delighted with the efforts of his team.

“The boys are showing real desire for this fight, and that is all I can ever ask,” he said.

“Against Lisbellaw we were lethargic, and you could see we played a game 72 hours ago. Lisbellaw were at home and coming into the game fresh, and you could see in the initial 45 minutes they were a bit sharper to the ball and seemed in better condition.

"Our performance in the second half was much improved. The lads were superb and really dug deep.

"We rode our luck at times, but we had some very good chances of our own. To be three games unbeaten is good and hopefully that can continue on Saturday, but all we are doing is concentrating on the next game. We have given ourselves a chance, but in every game, we just have to go again.”

Lisbellaw came into the match after back-to-back league wins, but boss Kyle McCleery felt they did not perform at their best.

“We are a bit disappointed with how we played,” he conceded.

“I thought the first half was very flat from both teams. In the second half, we looked a lot sharper and when we equalised I thought we would maybe go on and win it.

"Our tails were up and we were pushing, but the last 15 minutes was end to end and it could have gone either way.

"Probably on reflection, a draw was a fair enough result, but I feel we didn’t play that well so from that point of view it feels a bit like two points dropped.”

Lisbellaw held the upper hand in the first half and Irvinestown keeper Jerome Carleton was the busier of the two netminders, having to save efforts from Sam Lindsay, Jack Foster and Scott Moutray.

The home team’s best effort fell to Lindsay, who pounced on a rebound after a Carleton save, but he blasted over from 12 yards out.

Lisbellaw’s Lindsay then had a back post volley saved by Carleton, and one minute later Jamie Coalter’s header from Paul Elliott’s deep corner came back off the post.

Five minutes into the second half Irvinestown took the lead when Stephen Sheridan fired in Gary Maguire’s cutback.

But Lisbellaw equalised midway through the half when Paul McGrath cut in from the right wing and fired in a low shot that squirmed under the body of Carleton.

Both goalkeepers had saves to make in a frantic finish to the match, with Sam McDonald’s full-length save from Danny Hughes the closest either side came to finding a winner.

Irvinestown’s bid to escape the drop zone continues with a home game against Tummery on Saturday, before they face another midweek away fixture next Tuesday when they travel to Strathroy Harps.

Manager Higginbotham admits he is frustrated at the scheduling of the games, with his side and fellow relegation strugglers Beragh Swifts the only two sides having to travel away from home on successive Tuesday nights.

“I am trusting that everything is taken into consideration, but I have to be honest,” he said.

“We have two midweek fixtures, both away from home and both 6.45pm kick-offs. Next week we are away to Strathroy, and I have to be fair to my players. A 6.45pm kick-off in Junior football isn’t kind.

"They have children and jobs, and I just don’t see how it logistically makes sense, given we are one of the very few who have two away games.

"All we are looking for is consistency in terms of what all the teams are doing, in terms of travel and in terms of the spread of home and away games. It puts a lot of strain on us to try and be able to field a team.

"I can see if everyone is doing it, but it seems to be just us as a club who travels all these distances for midweek away games. We watch on with interest.”